Pop Culture for the gay audience

Bravo to “Days of Our Lives”

I’ve never really been a soap opera type of person, but I did watch “Passion” from early 2004 up to when it was cancelled in 2008. I would only tune into “Days of Our Lives” for the last 5 mintues just to make sure I didn’t miss “Passions,” which came on right after Days.

Recently, I’ve started to watch “Days of Our Lives” again, and I mean really watch it, especially when I learned that one of the characters on “Days of Our Lives” would soon come out as gay. Other soaps, such as “Passions,” “As the World Turns, and “One Life to Live” have all tried to incorporate gay storylines, but the only current soap opera to have a gay storyline is “Days of Our Lives.”

Chandler Massey as Will Horton

I would like to applaud “Days of Our Lives” for staying with the storyline. I would also like to applaud Chandler Massey for being the actor to take on the role of Will Horton, who is slowly coming to terms with his sexuality. I feel Will Horton (Massey) is a good representation for the millions of teens in the world who are struggling with who they are, and who are struggling to tell the ones they love who they are.

You don’t want to be rejected, so you try to hide who you are. After a while, the charade becomes too much of a burden, so you have to tell someone. Maybe it’s a close friend. Maybe it’s a sibling. Or maybe it’s one of your parents. Either way, you have to tell someone. It’s such a relief for even one person knowing who you really are. For me, I have a close friend who “found out” I was gay, and who is very accepting of who I am despite his (and mine) religious background.

So again, bravo to “Days of Our Lives,” bravo to Chandler Massey, and bravo to the supportive cast and crew of “Days of Our Lives” who are showing their support for equality for everyone.